Tandem axle construction



June 14, 1949. w. F. DOUBLE T AL ,8

I TANDEM AXLE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1947 llwewrona WALTER 000545 Jrswanr E ARM/nermv flrMa/vo Q ARMINGTON DY WQZWQM ATTORNEYS June 14, 1949. w. F. DOUBLE ET AL 2,472,813

TANDEM AXLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 6, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 J INVE N70R$ WALTER F." DausLE JTEWA-RT f. ARMINGTON RAYMOND QARM/NGT N Patented June 14, 1949 FEED STAT s rm ear or-Fies ton, Willoug-hby,. Shaker Heights,

and Raymond Q... Armington, Ohio, assignors. to K The. Euclid,

Road Machinery (70., Cleveland, Ohio a corporation of Ohio Application February 6, 194377; SeriallNol 726,8:

(Cl. 28UIiI4.5)'

1 3 Claims.

This invention. relates to improvements in tandem axle construction and more particularly for. improved, means for. supporting a vehicle upon tandem axles in a manner to permit thev necessary; relative motion between the axles and the vehicle.

One of the objects of the present invention is to. provide novel support meansv between tandemaxles and a vehicle utilizing a resilient body such asrubber, for permitting relative motion between the. axle and the vehicle body. The present in.- vention utilizes the resilientbody to support substantially vertical loads only.

Other. objects and advantages of the present invention wil1 be apparent from the accompanying drawings and specification and the essential features thereof will be setforth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is. a plan View of one embodiment of our invention with the major portion of the vehicle.

removed. so as to more clearly show the axle-constructionv;

Fig. 2 is. a fragmental sectional view taken alongv theline 22 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken along similarly numbered lines of Fig. 1; While Figs. 5 and 6 show a modified form ofour inventionwherein Fig. 5 isa plan view thereof simlar, to Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a sectional-view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The present invention is related. to supporting wheel means for heavy vehicles requiring a plurality of. axles and wheels for supporting heavy loads. to.provide tandem axles for supporting a vehicle and. to. provide means permittingv relative movement between the axles and. the vehicle. The present invention utilizes resilient bodies such as rubber for permitting this. relative movement.

In the form ofv our invention shown in Figs. 1

Various constructions have been utilized to 4 inclusive, a portion of the. vehicle frame is indicated by the parallel I-beams iii. A further showing of thevehicle body is deemed unnecessary. Extending downwardly from each beam I is a pair of bracket plates II which support a pivot shaft l2 infixed'relationshipto the vehicle frame. Oscillatably mounted on opposite ends of the pivot shaft are rocker beams. |3a and BI).

Each beam has a central hub I4 provided with a suitable bearing Ma between the hub and shaft I2. Opposite arms of each. rocker beam diverge upwardly from the hub [4' and. each armterminates in a. generally rectangular cap t5. For-- ward and rearward axle housings l6 and IT sup- 0L 4: port for-ward drive wheels. l8 andrearward drive. Wheels. 19 respectively. The forward and r.ear-- ward axle. housings enclose. drive. axles [6a. and. Ila respectively, which are driven in; a. manner presently described, so: as tov rotate. the wheels. I18 and i9...

The resilient bodies of rubber or thelike,. are interposed between the caps I of the rocker beams and; the; axle housings, ILB. and. I1, asbest. shown in. Figs. 2. and. 3; Integral. with. the; axle. housings; are upwardly extending stems 20 terminatingin. an, enlarged head. 21'. there being. two of theseoneachaxlehousing, or. four. inalL. Each of these. heads 21 has. a cup shape upper surfaceupon which rests a body of resilient ma terial such. as. rubber. or the like. and indicated at 22. Each of the caps l5.is open atthe bottomand after the partstare assembled, a closing plate 23,. made in. two parts, is secured by bolts 24. so. as to. hold theparts assembledas shown in Figs- 2 and 3. A retaining. ring. 25 ofrubber or the like isheldbetween. an annular flange 23a: of the re-. tainingv plate and an: annular groove 21a in the. head 2 I. It will be notedthatthe resilient bodies. 22 are here shown. as rectangular in shape and.- we find that. rubber approximately threeinchesthick and 8 x l2.inches.in. widthand length gives a, suitable. support for. heavy duty trucks... It will benotedthat each body ofrubber 22, is heldaboutthe: periphery against. escape or spreading while at. the same time permitting; relative verticalv movement. between the head 2| andthe cap 15..

Any suitable means may be utilized for. rotating. the. drive shafts 16a and Her to turn the drive wheels. We have chosen to show a construction wherein the. propeller shaftv 26 is connected by anniversal jointi'l. with worm drive mechanism within the housing 28. which is properly connected through differential mechanism withdrive. shaft. [6a. The-drive continues through the housing 28, universal joint 29; shaftv 30 and universal joint 3| to a suitable worm drive in the housing; 32'. Suitable,driveconnections are provided from this; point to the driving. axle- Ila. This drive.

. permits. suitable power transmission to both for- 3 Fig. 4, the wishbone 34 has a pair of arcuate plugs 35 and 36 removably held in position by the threaded plug 37 embracing a ball shape head 38a which is rigidly connected with a sleeve 38 which in turn has a force fit over the shaft I2. The mounting of the apex end of wishbone 33 is similar to that just described. The diverging ends of each wishbone are secured to their associated axle housings, wishbone 33 to housing i6 and wishbone 34 to housing I? as by welding applied at the points 39.

It results from the above construction that as the vehicle is driven over rough ground, if all of the Wheels 19 are raised or lowered substantially equally relative to the wheels is the movement is taken care of by oscillation of the rocker beams [3a and 131) about the pivot shaft I2. If, however, unequal movement occurs between the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle there is a tilting movement of the axle housings E6 or I! about the longitudinal center line of the vehicle. Distortion of the resilient bodies 22 is adapted to accommodate all such tilting action without strain on the other parts of the construction. For instance, if the wheel IQ of Figs. 1 and 2 is raised relative to the opposite left-hand wheel the axle housing I? will tend to be inclined upwardlly toward the right while the cap i5 associated with the rocker arm l3b will tend to remain level along with the vehicle body. This 3 causes the block 22 to be distorted so that the right-hand side thereof as viewed in Fig. 2 will become narrower and the head 2! will be nearer the cap IE on the right-hand side and farther from the cap on the left-hand side as viewed in Fig. 2. This action will be clearly understood by those skilled in this art.

During all such relative movement between the axle housings and the vehicle body, while traveling over rough ground, the brake and driving torque, as well as the tendency toward side movement, will be accommodated by the wishbones 33 and 84 which are fixed relative to their ball and socket joints 33a and 33a respectively, while permitting oscillation in any direction of each wishbone about its ball and socket connection.

The modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to that already described except for the following differences. The axle housings l6 and i? together with their associated Wheels l8 and I9 are exactly like those already described. The pivot shaft I2 and its support from the frame I is exactly the same. The wishbones 33 and 34' have ball socket connections located opposite each other along the center line of the vehicle. Each wishbone has a ball shape head 35 which is received in a suitable socket in a split bracket 3 having upper and lower halves secured together by the bolts 3'17. The bracket 36 is firmly held on the shaft if by collars 38 and bolts 39. The driving means in this modification is like that already described.

The operation of the construction shown in Figs. and 6 is quite similar to that first described. Resilient blocks or pads 22 exactly like those previously described are held by the caps l5 mounted on the rocker beams 43. These pads take the vertical loads and are distorted to take care of the tilting of the axle housings relative to the vehicle as in the first described form, while the Wishbones 33' and 34% absorb the brake and driving torque and take care of sidewise location.

What we claim is:

1. Tandem axle construction comprising 8. ve-

hicle frame, a shaft rigidly supported thereon and therebeneath and extending transversely of said frame, parallel rocker beams on opposite sides of said frame, each beam having an intermediate portion oscillatably mounted on said shaft and having arms diverging upwardly from said shaft in a fore-and-aft direction, parallel front and rear axle units on opposite sides of said shaft, each of said axle units having wheel means at opposite sides of said vehicle, interengaging pairs of connecting parts between each of said axle units and the free ends of said rocker beam arms, a resilient deformable body between each said pair of connecting parts for cushioning relative movement between said axle units and said beams, and a V- shape wishbone bracket for each axle unit, each of said brackets having a universal connection between the apex of said V-shape and said shaft and having the diverging legs of said V-shape secured to the associated axle unit.

2. Tandem axle construction comprising a vehicle frame, a shaft rigidly supported thereon and therebeneath and extending transversely of said frame, parallel rocker beams on opposite sides of said frame, each beam having an intermediate portion oscillatably mounted on said shaft and having arms extending therefrom in fore-and-aft directions, parallel front and rear axle units on opposite sides of said shaft, each of said axle units having wheel means at opposite sides of said vehicle, connecting means between each of said axle units and the adjacent free ends of said rocker beam arms, a resilient deformable body in each of said connecting means for cushioning relative movement between said axle units and said beams, and a V-shape wishbone bracket for each axle unit, each of said brackets having a universal connection between the apex of said V-shape and said shaft and having the diverging legs of said V-shape rigidly secured to the associated axle unit.

3. Tandem axle construction comprising a vehicle frame, parallel rocker beams pivotally mounted intermediate their ends on said frame for oscillation in planes extending in fore-and-aft 'direction, said pivotal mountings being alined transversely of said frame, parallel front and rear axle units each having wheel means at opposite sides of said vehicle, connecting means between each of said axle units and the free ends of said rocker beams, a resilient deformable body in each said connecting means for cushioning relative movement between said axle units and said beams, means for resisting braking and driving torque and for controlling relative lateral movement between said axle units and said frame comprising torque arms, one for each of said axle units, each torque arm having a rigid connection with its associated axle unit and having a universal connection with said frame, and said universal connections being substantially at the level of said rocker beam pivotal mountings.

WALTER F. DOUBLE.

STEWART F. ARMINGTON.

RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,193,567 Pointer Mar. 12, 1940 2,339,539 Zeilman Jan. 18, 1944 

